Devastated
by BrynnH87
Summary: Simon finds that a devastating event affects not one, but both members of his best detective team.


Title: Devastated

Author: Brynn

Author's Notes: Thanks to my betas, Debbie Tripp and Nicci.

Devastated

"Jim, there's been an explosion. It's crazy here man. They say there may be more. You have to get me out of.…" The line went dead.

"Sandburg! Sandburg!" Jim yelled into the phone at his desk, slammed down the receiver, and grabbed his coat on the way out of the bullpen. In his car, Jim listened to the news on the radio.

"Two explosions so far have now wracked Rainer University. The entire front and one side of Hargrove Hall is said to be in ruins. Another bomb is reported to be in the building. The bomb squad and fire fighters are struggling to contain the situation. Injured faculty and students are pouring out onto the lawn, with reports of an unknown number dead or trapped..." Jim turned it off. Sandburg had to be okay. He had to be. 'He would have gotten out before calling me, right?' Jim wondered. 'Or did he mean I had to get him out of Hargrove Hall, not just off the campus? Oh please Chief, be okay.' Jim abandoned his truck in the parking lot nearest the Anthropology Building, and raced into the fray. Fire fighters and EMTs were everywhere. Emergency vehicles littered the lawn. People were moaning or crying, or silently rocking or staring, obviously in shock. Jim used his enhanced sight to see the faces of those even too far away to be seen by anyone other than a Sentinel. No Blair. He did spy Joel Taggart, however. Of course, the bomb squad was there.

Jim rushed over to the Captain and stammered a question. "Joel, have you seen Blair? He's in there somewhere," Jim tried not to dwell on the devastated building he saw before him. Joel was telling him about finding the third bomb and was going on about the kind of timer it had, and where it was placed, as though Jim was there on official business. Jim didn't care. He had to get to Blair.

As he pretended to listen to Joel, Jim continued to scan the faces on the lawn, and piggybacked his hearing so as to pick out bits of conversation, hoping to find out anything he could about where Sandburg might be. Finally, he hit pay dirt. A young lady Jim thought to be a student was crying and babbling about Professor Sandburg getting them all out. "He kept his head," she was saying, "when all the other people in the building were going nuts, and he got us all out of the lecture hall." Jim took off across the lawn, and dropped down in front of the student, as she sat cradled in a friend's arms. "You said Sandburg got you out? Did HE get out? Where is he?"

"He was right behind me," the girl whispered, her eyes unfocused and wild. "The wall just…crumbled. He screamed. I don't know what happened after that. I just stumbled along with everyone else." Suddenly she was staring at Jim, with a look of sheer horror.  
"Oh God, I'm so sorry! I don't think he got out!" Joel Taggart caught up with Jim just in time to watch him dash toward the devastated building. "Blair!" Jim shouted over the noise of rescue workers and groaning building supports. "Chief, answer me! BLAIR!" Jim extended his hearing and vision as far as he dare, and just about when he was sure there was nothing to discover, he heard it. "Jim…oh man, Jim" Blair's voice was so full of pain, and way too weak,"…hurry!"

"In here! I need HELP!" Jim hollered to whatever rescue person might hear. Immediately, there were swarms of personnel at Jim's location, throwing bricks, moving timbers. "Hold on Chief," Jim mumbled, even though he knew Blair wouldn't be able to hear him. "We're coming. Hold on."Rescue efforts continued for several minutes, but no survivors were found. Jim noticed people slowing down, or giving up. "How do we know there's anyone in here?" One worker asked. "I heard him," Jim was quick to answer. "I haven't heard anything for a while. He must be unconscious now, but I heard him. Please, just a little while longer. We've got to get to him." Jim was frantically throwing debris. Blair had sounded so weak. This was taking too long.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Jim saw a dusty curl escape the rubble. The rescue workers doubled their efforts, but Jim hadn't heard Blair speak for some time, and when they finally found him, it just confirmed his suspicions that Blair was no longer conscious. Once Blair's hand was uncovered, Jim latched onto it and the rest of the rescue was a blur of motion and sound. Jim was beyond reasoning by the time the EMTs loaded Blair into the back of the ambulance. They loaded Jim as well, just so that they didn't have to break either man's hand to separate them. Jim was motionless and silent on the trip to the hospital. Once there, Blair's stretcher was unloaded and taken into the ER, with Jim still attached, and guided into an examination room. Several nurses tried to get Jim to let go, but he ignored them. It seemed to them that he couldn't even hear them, like he was focusing on something else. A male nurse, a well built man about Jim's size, finally had enough of tripping over this unnecessary obstacle, and grabbed Jim's wrist with the intent of forcibly separating him from the patient. Suddenly Jim wasn't so silent. He seized the man's wrist with his free hand, turned to position his body between Blair and this new threat, and literally growled at the man. The nurse sprang back a few steps and just stared at Jim. He'd never seen a human being growl like that before, and the bared teeth were definitely no where NEAR a smile.

All of a sudden, the idea of working around the man wasn't such a bad one. No one bothered trying to move Jim during the rest of the examination, and he settled back down into a deep listening state again.

By the time Simon arrived at the hospital, Jim appeared to be in a full blown zone. Simon had no idea how to bring him out of it. It did, at least, afford the medical personnel the opportunity to separate Blair from his Blessed Protector. At some point during the examination one of the nurses noticed Jim's hand go slack. Where he had been gripping the patient so tightly they couldn't be pried apart, suddenly his hand was just lying limply around Sandburg's. The nurse gently put Jim's hand into his lap, and then hurried Blair off to surgery. Simon didn't deal well with all the "sentinel stuff" at the best of times, and now he was simply at a loss. All he could do, while Blair fought for his life in the operating room, was to sit with Jim, and hope he didn't slip further away. Hope that if the unthinkable happened, and they lost Blair, that they wouldn't lose Jim too. All he could think of doing was to talk to Jim. He recalled aloud all the mishaps the kid had gotten himself into over the years. And how all of those events had ended just fine. He told Jim how he had come to respect Sandburg over the years. Of all the emotions the long haired hippie wannabe evoked from Simon in the early days, respect was not one he expected. But somehow, Blair had slipped under his radar. At some point, when he wasn't looking, he had grown fond of the kid, had started wanting to protect him almost as much as Jim did, though he was much more subtle about it. Blair turned out to be stronger than they thought in lots of other situations, and, if there was any justice in the world, he would come out of this just fine, too. Hours later, Jim sat in exactly the same position he had been all this time. A kindly nurse had drawn the curtain and the rest of the staff gave the two men wide berth. Simon was finally talked out, and just sat with a totally silent, unmoving Jim, becoming more and more silent and unmoving himself, as he contemplated what losing these two men would mean to him, and to everyone in Major Crime. Simon had no idea what to do to help Jim, or what would happen if Blair didn't make it through surgery. Would Jim 'wake up' if the heartbeat Simon was convinced his friend was listening to finally stilled, or would his somehow stop too? Would Jim just stay in this zone forever, if Sandburg died? The doctors had given Blair a 50/50 chance. Simon had no idea of the odds on Jim's survival. Finally, a young doctor, obviously exhausted from hours in surgery, peeked his head around the curtain of the examination room. "I'm told you two are awaiting news on Blair Sandburg?" Simon jerked his head up from the half doze he had fallen into. "Yes," he said, extending his hand to the doctor as the man made his way toward them. "I'm Captain Banks; this is Blair's partner, Jim Ellison." It was obvious the doctor was trying to puzzle out why Jim wasn't reacting to his presence, or even blinking, as far as he could tell. But, he carried on with the announcement he had come to deliver. "Blair was a very lucky young man. His injuries weren't nearly as severe as we first thought. He had numerous internal injuries, and had lost a lot of blood, but we managed to fix everything. He should be taken to a room in ICU within the hour. We don't normally allow visitors in ICU for anything but short periods of time, but I've been informed by the ER staff that this is rather a special case, and I should allow the two of you to stay." Simon let out a breath he hadn't been aware of holding. He wasn't sure how he would have dealt with it if they hadn't let the two of them into Blair's room. He was hoping that if Blair was closer, Jim might not have to focus so intensely to hear his heartbeat, and might come out of the zone on his own, though at this point, he wasn't really banking on it. "So," the doctor continued, "I'll get someone to take the two of you up there when Blair comes out of recovery." He looked at Jim again, who was still unmoving, and unfocused. "I take it you'll need a wheelchair for him?"

Simon just nodded his thanks. Once Blair was safely in his room in intensive care, Jim was moved to a chair at his side. Jim still showed no signs of awareness. Simon took up residence on the other side of the bed, and watched, and worried about both of his friends. It was nearing morning when Blair finally stirred, just a little motion of his hand and a faint moan, but it seemed to reach Jim wherever he had gone.  
For the first time since shortly after entering the hospital, Jim moved. His eyes locked onto his recovering partner, and his hand reached out to once again grasp Blair's. That was all the movement out of either of them, but it gave Simon hope. For now, it was enough. They might all make it through this devastating event after all. End


End file.
